


Choices

by Slothquisitor



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-26
Updated: 2015-12-26
Packaged: 2018-05-09 13:32:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 702
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5541839
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Slothquisitor/pseuds/Slothquisitor
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the events of Haven, Mara realizes she has a choice to make.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Choices

When she had told Cullen to get the refugees and get out of Haven, she knew what she was agreeing to. She knew she was sacrificing herself, being the “Herald of Andraste”, like everyone wanted her to be. It had made the most sense and it was all they had ever wanted from her right? To seal her fate as a martyr. They would sing songs and tell stories and the Inquisition would continue without her. 

Good riddance, Mara thought.

It was a bit of a relief to Mara to be honest. She’d felt so awkward being the religious symbol for a god she wasn’t sure she believed in. She felt as though she had to pretend to believe because she was the Herald of Andraste. How would that look, the Herald doesn’t even believe in Andraste? Being Dalish, everyone assumed she believe in their gods as well, but she wasn’t so sure about that either. Not anymore. If the mark did come from Andraste, what did it mean?

Mara was surprised to find herself awaking, covered in snow, but very much alive. She took stock of her body for a moment. Assessing the damage done. Ribs definitely bruised, breathing told her that much. She groaned as she dragged herself to her feet. Her right knee was jacked up, the more weight she put on it the sharper the pains shooting through it. 

Shit, the real problem was her right hand. She must have used it to break her fall. She held her staff, testing her grip. She grimaced through the pain, she’d have to put up with it if she ran into anything but slipped her staff onto her back. 

What now? She looked around. What did she want? She probably needed a healer, but could manage once her mana returned to full strength. Once she got out of this cave she could disappear. She didn’t have to be the Herald of Andraste if she didn’t want to. 

In the last few months she had so many things choices taken away from her. So many things she had done out of duty and it was crushing her. She didn’t have to do this.

Either way, I’ve got to get out of this blasted cave, she thought and began moving forward gingerly. 

Her hand crackled to life, it did that. She’d gotten used to it. Just like she had gotten used to the pain. It was just a dull ache now, but it served as a reminder of the responsibility she would be walking away from. The people she would be walking away from….

Dorian. Cassandra. Sera. Solas. Bull. Varric. Vivienne. Blackwall. Cole. Her friends. People who had joined the Inquisition for her, or at least believed in her. She knew she was more than a martyr to them. 

Cullen. 

The thought of him punched the air out of her lungs as she remembered his parting words, “Let that thing hear you.” There were a lot of things Mara had wanted him to say. She had looked for more meaning in his eyes than his words could convey, but she hadn’t found it. She had thought….

It doesn’t matter what I thought, I was wrong, she spat. She’d just imagined it and acted like a silly girl. 

Mara was so lost in thought she hardly noticed she had reached the end of the cave. The wind was biting, and threatened to knock her over in her injured state. She was almost sure she could guess which way the Inquisition had gone. She could find them. She wanted to find them. 

She began trudging through the snow up the mountain. This would not be the easiest road. She knew that, but this was the right choice. And as delusional as it was it felt like this time it was her choice. 

After the conclave, the Inquisition had chosen her. She felt like she didn’t have a choice but to work with them. This time she was choosing the Inquisition. She’d chosen it back in Haven too when she stayed behind, but she just hadn’t realized it then.

She sighed, Dorian is going to kill me when I find them. But she was smiling.


End file.
